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Originally Posted by ArtificialBrandon
I'm not going to get into what I think of insider trading laws here, but I'll just say that I think the severity of Martha's sentence is utterly absurd. What's even worse is a smug juror jubilantly proclaiming that the decision was a "victory for the little guy."
And by the way: who wants to bet that Skilling walks?
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Insider trading penalties are generally harsh - Martha is no exception.
I think it's fair. All of the owners (stockholders) of a publicly owned company should have fair and equal access to information that positively or negatively impacts
their company. Also, those who are on the inside (CEOs etc.) would have less of an incentive for seeing their company do well if they can sell stock before bad news is made public, and make money at the expense of others. The harsh penalties are intended to deter.